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The Quest for Artificial Life: A Philosophical Paradox
Dean Zeller
The question of artificial life will be a discussion that will never be agreed upon by society in general. There
may by a “textbook” definition of what artificial life is. However, the operational definition can be very
different, depending on one’s viewpoint. Each side has an abundance of evidence to support their argument.
With issues such as these, it will be impossible to change another’s viewpoint.
Operational Definition of Artificial Life
In order to answer the question about the morality of artificial life, one must consider the operational definition.
The term by itself is not enough to create a valid argument, either for or against. Detail must be known in order
to present evidence. This will be done by analyzing the operational definition of its components, artificial and
life. Because this is a discussion on moral issues of whether should or should not continue research in artificial
life, these operational definitions will be based on how society as a whole regards their use in conversation.
“Artificial” – Butter vs. Margarine
Compare the terms “Artificial Life” and “Artificial Flavoring”. Is artificial flavoring still flavoring? Is artificial
coloring still coloring? Depending on one’s point of view, artificial life is or isn’t life. Margarine is not
technically butter. Butter is a solid fat made from churning milk or cream. Margarine is a vegetable fat
processed to resemble the taste, texture, and appearance of butter. Although lacking the full, rich flavor of
butter, margarine is used as a substitute by those who wish to limit animal fats in their diet. Their ingredients
are very different, yet it has very similar effects on food. Most recipes produce nearly the same result when
using margarine instead of butter.
But is margarine butter? When asking for margarine at the family dinner table, one would say “please pass the
butter” as it is awkward to say “please pass the margarine.” Families in which both butter and margarine is both
used, members commonly refer to it as “your butter” or “my butter.” Discussion whether artificial life really is
life is about as meaningful as discussing whether margarine really is butter. To some, it is. To others, it isn’t.
A similar comparison can be made with Sweet-n-Low and sugar.
“Life” – Abortion
Compare the question of “Is artificial life possible” to “Is abortion murder”. In abortion, viewpoints are
radically split between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice. The Pro-Life philosophy is that life begins once conception is
complete, and that purposely aborting the fetus is to be considered murder. Meanwhile, the Pro-Choice
philosophy is that life begins at birth, and not one moment before.
This has sparked discussion of many laws in order to decide on an operational definition of life. Society as a
whole still has yet to come to a conclusion. The American legal system finally decided on a compromise
between the two. Abortion is legal only in the first trimester of the pregnancy. However, if an assault on a
pregnant woman results in the death of the fetus, the assailants are not tried for murder. Obviously, there is a
wide range of opinions on what is considered to be “life”.
Portrayals of Artificial Life in Fiction
R2D2 and C3P0
In the Star Wars movies, the druids were considered a race of their own. They were bought and sold as slaves.
Yet they harbored no ill will towards their owners, as they were well cared for. They were able to interact
fluidly with humans. There is a possibility that, through some form of artificial life, we could create a race in
which we can interact with. Overall, would that not benefit humanity? This new race may have something to
give us back.
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T-800 Terminator
In the future of the world presented in Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, computers became self
aware in 1997, and decided to destroy all of humanity. This represents the common fear that computers will
eventually take over society. In these movies, the Terminators were robots able to learn and adapt to the current
situation. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is slated for release in July, 2003.
Lieutenant-Commander Data
In 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced Data, the intelligent android whose innocence won the
hearts of millions. In the episode “Measure of a Man,” Data is made to fight for the very rights of his life. This
episode was the first of two episodes that discussed the philosophy of artificial life. The second was “The
Offspring” in which Data succeeds in creating a child. Suppose Data, in all his characterizations, was possible.
Would he fit the category of artificial life? He was able to intermix with society, make friends, get in
arguments, and become intimate. Does Data have a “soul”? There is no way to tell. There is also no way to
tell if humans have souls either. Data spent his entire time trying to find his humanity.
David
Joel Haley Osmet further demonstrated his acting talent from such movies as Forrest Gump and The Sixth Sense
to portray the David, the artificial boy in AI: Artificial Intelligence. David was programmed to unconditionally
love whomever ran the parameters to be his “mother”. While his mother loved him at first, he was sent away in
the real world. He spent the rest of his life in pursuit of becoming a real boy. There were many parallels with
the classic Pinocchio, including Jiminy Cricket and Sly Fox. The first 45 minutes of the movie has some
wonderful philosophical discussions about artificial life. However, once the movie answered its questions, the
rest of the movie left much to be desired.
Simone
Simone, a movie to be released in August, 2002, is about a producer whose film is endangered when his star
walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation
that everyone thinks is a real person. Examine the possibilities of entities like Simone as a form of artificial life.
This form would be limited, not having a body of its own. But this limitation is also an advantage. Movement
would not be a problem, as these entities would simply live on the Internet. These entities would simply exist
only on the Internet. People would see members of this race on their computer screens. When holographic
projectors become feasible, their mobility will increase.
Is Artificial Life Possible?
Humans have an unexplainable concept of a “soul” or “consciousness.” It controls our actions and forms us
into the people we are. A computer algorithm, no matter how complex and efficient, will ever accomplish this
objective. But let’s look at this a different way. How do we know that the Pentium III 1200 GHz computer
with 512 megs of RAM doesn’t have a consciousness, on some minute level? If programmed correctly, a
computer simulation of the human brain may develop a consciousness of its own. For all we know, all
programming may introduce some concept of a soul.
Biology
To many, it is a question of biology. If it doesn’t have a heartbeat or some biological method of staying alive, it
is not life. Computers use no organics, do not use any chemical reactions. No matter how much it may look
and act like a human, it is run with electricity is made of silicon and metal. This is an argument which is based
completely on opinion and point of view. One can easily make parallels between a computer system and a
biological system. Electrons instead of blood cells. CPU instead of brain. Power supply provides the source of
energy to stay alive, as compared to food and oxygen. The clock represents the heartbeat. Humans and
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computers both have input and output devices. Who is to say that computers are not already alive, on some
level.
Turing Test for Artificial Life
Many would consider artificial life to be successful if man was able to create an object or being in which the
illusion of reality was so real that society could not tell the difference. When Alan Turing originated the idea of
artificial intelligence, he also created a test to determine whether intelligence was accomplished. For four
decades, no single program could pass Turing’s impossible test. Finally, in 1991, Joseph Weintraub created
Whimsical Conversation. Five of the ten judges decided that Whimsical was human. In reality, it was the PC
Therapist III from Thinking Software in Woodside, New York running on a Northgate 386 PC. Since then,
many programs have passed Turing’s original incarnation of the test. The Turing Test can also be applied for
artificial life. Have the computer scientists and the robotic engineers create the best piece of life possible. A
panel of judges will compare the artificial life to the species it most resembles, and see if they can tell the
difference.
Plans for Artificial Life
In order to create artificial life, one must have plans in mind on how to go about accomplishing the task. The
following are two hypothetical long-term plans on creating a form of artificial life. These represent only the
possibilities of what can be accomplished, and are by no means exhaustive.
Plan 1: Artificial Race on Mars
The possibilities of artificial life brings the future of space exploration us that much closer to us. Assume
artificial life is possible, even on a very low level. This need not be a perfect looking android like Star Trek’s
Lieutenant-Commander Data. It should be a simple robot able to think and learn on its own, as well as
communicate with other robots of its type. This robot would not have the same logistical engineering problems
in the long space flight to Mars, such as food and air. It might make putting life on Mars an easier task. If we
can’t put a real human on Mars, we could put an artificial creature there. The following is a basic outline for
creating a separate race on Mars. It makes a few assumptions about our technical level of advancement.
Step 1: Create several members of our artificial race. Program them with an artificial intelligence capable of
learning. Give it instructions on how to build one of its own.
Step 2: Send it to Mars. The spaceship should be designed in such a way that it can be rebuilt into tools,
shelter, and raw materials.
Step 3: Continue to build and send more members. Their goal – to create a factory that builds more
members.
Step 4: When they are successful in building the factory, no longer make any more members. Send them raw
materials as long as they request it.
Step 5: At some point, stop supplying them with raw materials. Make them search the planet for their own
resources. At this point, they become self sufficient.
If, by some miracle, this process works, then humanity will have accomplished the impossible by creating a
race. We might find the race even evolves over time. Of course, this idea is not without risks. Many are afraid
this artificial race would evolve beyond our control and return to attack humanity. It is a possibility. It is also a
possibility that a comet could hit the Earth, killing all of humanity. It would be a wonderful legacy of humanity
to have created another form of life before our demise. Who knows, maybe this artificial race would be able to
develop technology, and save us from that very comet. This plan may sound radical and ridiculous. But how
are we to know that four billion years ago, some alien race somewhere said “Hey! We created these neat little
amino acids, DNA, and RNA. Let’s put them on a planet and see what happens.” Further, how do we know it
wasn’t a race of robots that put us here.
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Plan 2: Internet as a Neural Network Entity
As far as research can determine, the human brain is nothing more than a massively parallel processor run by a
neural network. What are the possibilities of using the vast connections of the Internet to create a single being?
The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project experimented with allowing anybody on the Internet to
help analyze data in the search for alien life. Members of the Internet community were all to happy to provide
their spare CPU time in order to help with their search. The Internet has proven itself to be useful in one task
believed by some to be impossible. This is another one of the possibilities. Because of the connections of
artificial life to that of science fiction, one could assume a positive response from the Internet marketplace. The
following is a basic outline for creating the Internet Entity. Unlike Plan 1, it makes no immediate assumptions
about our technical level of advancement. Research towards this project could take place immediately. If
successful, the Internet Entity would be the most massively parallel processor possible. If it is popular enough,
this could be a service people would pay for, and could potentially be worth millions.
Step 1: Create software using the same model as SETI. Rather than translate data, each computer would
serve as a node in an enormous neural network.
Step 2: Users could choose the brain function in which their computer would have some control over.
Step 3: The nodes would make contact with other nodes via dendrites.
Step 4: Over time, the Internet Entity would grow with more user nodes. Eventually it should be able to
learn on its own. Everyone on the Internet would become a part of creating this artificial lifeform.
Conclusions
What if artificial life is a completely unattainable goal. Should humanity refrain from a given task, simply
because it has been decided to be impossible? Many believe artificial life is only possible in fiction. Going to
the moon was also portrayed as fiction. However, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made fiction reality,
it was a step forward for humanity. Going to Mars has been portrayed in fiction more than the moon. It is even
more of an impossible task, yet millions are spent every year developing technologies for that purpose.
Research is about finding facts, not about the truth. Despite the fact it is an unattainable goal in some eyes,
research should be done to see how close we can get. Can we create an artificial person that society will
accept? It is certainly a goal worth attempting. Only time will tell if we are up to the challenge.
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References
Pinocchio (1940)
Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode 5 – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Star Wars: Episode 6 – The Return of the Jedi (1983)
Terminator (1984)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Episode 35: “Measure of a Man” 2/11/89 (stardate 42523.7)
Episode 64: “The Offspring” 3/10/90 (stardate 43657.0)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999)
AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Star Wars: Episode 2 – The Clone Wars (2002)
Simone (2002)
www.cooking.com
http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/weintraub-bio.html Joseph Weintraub Information
http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/loebner-prize.html Loebner Prize Home Page
http://www.seti.org Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Institute home page